LOS ANGELES, CA – The LA County Department of Public Health (DPH) and the University of Southern California (USC) run the “Keeping it Real Together” program (KIR-T) which provides essential sexual and parent education. However, the Federal government will cut funding short and end the 5 year, $10-million teen pregnancy prevention program two years early. In response, today the Board of Supervisors passed a motion, authored by Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, to send 5-signature letter to HHS and federal representatives denouncing these cuts to funding and identify potential sources of new funds for this essential teen pregnancy prevention program.

The LA County Department of Public Health is now accepting self-nominations for 2-year appointments (spring 2018 – spring 2020) to the Community Prevention and Population Health Task Force (Task Force). The Task Force functions like a County commission and is responsible for promoting health, equity and community well-being in Los Angeles County.

California has long been known as a beacon for progressive politics, but for many communities of color and Indigenous people, this idealistic vision of California has never been the reality. Our report launching RACE COUNTS makes the case for racial equity and lays out a path to achieve that vision for all Californians. Through our three-dimensional analysis of racial equity — looking at performance, disparity, and impact across 44 indicators in seven issue areas — we find that though racial disparities are present everywhere in California, each region has its own unique landscape of key issues and needs:

The Youth Count is a component of the Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, and data collected on young people experiencing homelessness from this effort directly impacts local, state, and federal measures when addressing homeless youth services.

Every year on April 10th, we celebrate National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day (NYHAAD). NYHAAD is a national day that serves as an opportunity to create awareness about how HIV impacts young people and their community. On this day we strive to support young people in bringing awareness about HIV to their communities. Thus, the LA NYAAD Youth Ambassador Program was created to bring young leaders and activists together to promote prevention, treatment, care, and youth empowerment.

Through ourWorking to Institutionalize Sexuality Education (WISE)project, Cardea provides support to school districts in the implementation of comprehensive sexual health education that is in compliance with the California Healthy Youth Act. Cardea’s WISE projects currently partners with local County Offices of Education to support school districts in Alameda, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz and offers assistance to Orange County Office of Education.